


Flowers in the Rising Sun

by Fandoms_Forever



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Eren's a flower stealer and Levi wants to know what the fuck is up, Flower AU, I don't want to spoil anything in the tags but it is kinda sad, I'm yet another person who is bad at summaries, Inspired by something I saw on tumblr, It's not explicitly stated but Levi is biromantic asexual, M/M, also this was written in like 2 hours and i've had very little sleep and it's unedited, but i mean also go off I guess, but who is good at them really, eren is bi, i'm not evil, it's hard shit, like honestly, my first full work ever, please go easy on me, sorry about that, you probably won't cry though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-15 00:43:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14780412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandoms_Forever/pseuds/Fandoms_Forever
Summary: Eren steals flowers from Levi's garden. Basically, Levi wants to know why.





	Flowers in the Rising Sun

He usually came in the morning, far too early to be considered normal for a normal human to be awake. Of course, Levi didn’t consider himself part of the “normal human” population when it comes to having a healthy sleeping pattern. Not when he was consistently awake before even the birds. 

So it wasn’t a shock that he had been watching that man, the one who came by every few weeks and carefully cut a few of Levi’s precious flowers and bundled them together into a beautiful bouquet everytime, from the very beginning. 

Not that Levi really minded. He didn’t necessarily condone the theft, but the mysterious flower man never cut too many flowers to really even be noticed. And he clearly knew how to properly cut a flower stem, as they always remained healthy. Would Levi have preferred this man ask permission before taking what wasn’t his? Absolutely. Was he going to do anything about it _before _the ass crack of dawn? Hell no. As much as he cared for his plants, he wasn’t about to start a fight over it when no real harm was being done.__

__So, things remained the same._ _

__At least until Levi developed a nasty case of restless leg syndrome that prevented him from enjoying his usual seat on the porch. It was with a heavy sigh that he stood from his spot and decided to take a walk through the garden._ _

__He loved this garden. It was full of flowers from the garden his mother had so carefully cared for in his childhood home. When she had eventually moved back to France to be closer to her brother (who was struggling financially), Levi had taken her favorites and vowed to treat them as carefully as she had. So it was full of all kinds such as fresh-smelling lilacs, red begonias, all kinds of roses, and Levi’s personal favorites, yellow and purple irises._ _

__He was standing by the lilacs, just breathing in the scent and reminding himself to call his mother later on when he heard the quiet sound of footsteps. Reacting quickly, he concealed himself behind one of the many rose bushes and peered through the twigs at the intruder. It was, of course, the flower stealer. As always, he was completely oblivious to Levi’s scrutiny. That was one of Levi’s favorite things about this guy. Levi had been watching his every move for months _just from his front porch. He didn’t do anything to hide himself. Sure, it was dark, but if Levi was going to steal someone’s flowers, he’d at least check the front porch. This man was just about as observant as a brick wall. He probably thought he was safe in assuming he was the only one awake at this hour.__ _

___In normal circumstances, Levi supposed that was a safe bet. However, the fact that this man kept coming back meant increased risk at getting caught. It wasn’t completely uncommon for people to have bad nights, after all. Sometimes people take walks in their gardens at way-too-early-o’clock, Levi knew he wasn’t alone in that._ _ _

___And with that thought, Levi realized he was rather curious as to why this guy was so absent minded. Could it be that he was just too tired to realize someone could be watching him? Perhaps he’d been under the impression that Levi’s garden was actually a public garden. Or maybe he’s the type to get so absorbed in his thoughts that he just didn’t really know where he was._ _ _

___Levi could relate to that last one. He’d been so focused on why the man was here that he hadn’t noticed he was walking straight for the bush Levi was crouched behind. Deciding he really didn’t want to get caught hiding in his own yard, he quickly stood up (he was still shorter than the bush) and quietly walked around it. Somehow he pulled it off, and the man didn’t notice him until Levi was standing directly behind him._ _ _

___“Can I help you?” Levi had to stand on his tiptoes in order to speak almost directly in the man’s ear without touching him, resulting in a surprised yelp followed by a few curses and exclamations of pain. He’d jumped directly into the rose bush._ _ _

___“Jesus Chri-fuck-ow-how did you-who-ow-shit-fuck!”_ _ _

___Levi stood with his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. “Are you going to tell me why you’ve been stealing my flowers or am I going to have to call Backup?” He decided to leave what “backup” meant to the man’s imagination. He didn’t need to know that Backup was the name of Levi’s cat._ _ _

___“You...what?” he asked incoherently._ _ _

___Levi sighed and uncrossed his arms in favor of massaging his forehead in annoyance before pointing to the flowers in his hands. “Why are you taking my flowers?” he repeated._ _ _

___“Oh!” he exclaimed before rushing to hide the bundle behind his back as if Levi didn’t already know he had them. “I uh… I’m going to visit someone,” he muttered, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly._ _ _

___“Kind of early for that shit isn’t it? She must be pretty for you to keep doing this.”_ _ _

___“Uh… yeah. She’s beautiful,” he agreed, his voice quiet. “Wait, did you say ‘keep doing this’? As in, you know I’ve done this before?”_ _ _

___“Ballsy of you to admit that before I accused you of repetivity,” Levi said, just to watch the other sputter. It wasn’t every day he met someone as easily flustered as this man. He paused for a moment, watching the man’s eyes widen in fear before continuing, “But yes, I’ve known for a while. I have a porch, you know, I don’t think you noticed but I’ve sat up there every morning for years. Your dumbass just didn’t see me.”_ _ _

___“But then why didn’t you say something before?”_ _ _

___Levi shrugged. “I didn’t see a reason to. You didn’t seem to be harming anything, and this garden has gotten a little out of control over the years anyway. I’m only talking to you now because I happen to have been out here when you came in.”_ _ _

___The man nodded. “Sooooo, I should probably get going then,” he said, a questioning lilt in his voice._ _ _

___Levi shrugged again. “If you want, but I’m coming with you.”_ _ _

___His words surprised both himself and the man._ _ _

___“You can’t do that! That’s like, an invasion of…” he trailed off as he realized what he was saying. Levi decided to retort anyway,_ _ _

___“Invasion of privacy? You mean like the kind of privacy you’ve afforded me these past few months? Fuck off. I want to see exactly where my flowers have been going for the past few months.”_ _ _

___The man (the sun was now just bright enough that Levi could tell he had brown hair and green eyes) hesitated. He chewed on his lip for a moment, his brow furrowed in thought. “Fine,” he relented when Levi showed every sign of persistence. “Fine,” he repeated, “Then I get to know your name. I’m Eren.”_ _ _

___“Levi.”_ _ _

___“Let’s go then.”_ _ _

___ _

___\--------------------------------------_ _ _

___ _

___Levi regretted his decision. Wherever they were heading, it was way too far of a walk in slippers. He didn’t complain though, not when it had been him who’d insisted he go with Eren. Why the fuck did he even do that? It’s weird things like this that are the reason he only had two friends._ _ _

___He couldn’t explain it, so he kept his mouth shut. Turning back now would mean admitting that his feet were actually hurting, and he wasn’t about to back down from this ridiculous challenge he had gotten himself into. Hell no, he’d see this through to the end. Meet the girl and leave. Maybe call Hanji to pick him up. They were usually still awake at this hour anyway._ _ _

___Levi was still forming an escape plan when he realized Eren had stopped beside a gate and was now looking at Levi nervously._ _ _

___“You don’t have to do this you know, it won’t really make a difference to her if one or both of us go in.”_ _ _

___“I’m meeting her. End of story.” Levi said firmly, though he was a little confused as to what Eren had meant._ _ _

___Eren looked cautious for a moment before nodding and pushing open the large gate he’d stopped by._ _ _

___Now it was Levi’s turn to halt. He hadn’t realized where they were…_ _ _

___“Eren…” he whispered too quietly for Eren to hear, a note of something similar to sorrow in his voice. Eren had just pushed open the heavy iron gate that enclosed an old and rather small cemetery._ _ _

___He shouldn’t go in. Eren had tried to stop him from coming. He didn’t want Levi, a complete stranger, to watch him mourn the loss of someone obviously very dear to him._ _ _

___And yet something seemed to pull him in. For the second time that morning, Levi just followed his instincts and pushed open the gate._ _ _

___He found Eren easily enough, he was knelt in front of a small headstone with his head bowed. Beside the grave was a pot holding a fresh bouquet, and in Eren’s hand was a handful of dead flowers. The headstone read,_ _ _

__  
__  
__  
_In Loving Memory of Carla Jaeger_  
_January 29, 1965 - July 2, 2017 ___  
_Caring wife and mother ___  
_“I told you I was sick” ___  


____

_____Levi couldn’t help himself. He let out a huff of laughter at the last sentence, realizing that this must be Eren’s mom. Eren looked up at the sound of Levi’s laugh and allowed himself a small smile._ _ _ _ _

____

_____“She always had a sense of humor, even when- especially when she was dying.” Levi didn’t question why Eren was telling him this. He merely sat down next to Eren, hesitating slightly before resting a comforting hand on Eren’s shoulder. “Her last words were a quote from the Lion King. 'Remember who you are.' She said that right after we said goodbye.” Eren swallowed hard at those words and his eyes fixed themselves on the gravestone. “Every once and a while we’d wake up at 3am and just drive for hours wherever the streets took us. We’d get breakfast somewhere new every time and then we’d visit a flower shop. She loved having flowers in the house. So I bring her flowers early in the morning, just like we used to.”_ _ _ _ _

____

_____Levi didn’t really know what to say so he said nothing. Eren stared off into space for a little while, clearly lost in thoughts and memories._ _ _ _ _

____

_____The sun was climbing higher in the sky, making it much easier to see Eren’s features. And in the rising sun, he realized Eren was beautiful._ _ _ _ _

____

_____It was as if Levi’s thoughts stirred Eren, for he suddenly looked at Levi (who quickly looked away, embarrassed at being caught) and said, “I guess the reason you came in the first place was to see what she looked like.” He pulled out his phone and showed Levi a picture of a laughing Eren being squished between a kind faced man and a grinning woman. Carla Jaeger had long, dark brown hair and deep brown eyes. The camera just barely picked up how the sun shone in her eyes, but it did show just how much her son takes after her._ _ _ _ _

____

_____“She’s beautiful,” Levi murmured, “she looks like you.”_ _ _ _ _

____

_____Eren smiled at him as he put his phone away. “So I guess now you know why I’ve been stealing your flowers. I’m sorry about that. I’m also sorry to inform you that I won’t stop taking them.”_ _ _ _ _

____

_____Levi looked back at him with a tiny smile of his own. “Just don’t be afraid to say hi next time.”_ _ _ _ _

____

**Author's Note:**

> If you picked it up, the whole "Backup is the name of Levi's cat" was inspired by Veronica Mars's dog, who was also named Backup. That's a goodass show if you're looking for something to watch. 
> 
> This fic was inspired by a tumblr prompt, but unfortunately, it's unlikely I'll be able to link it because I saw a screenshot of it and the URL was cropped out. I wrote the whole thing in like 2 hours and I haven't edited it because if I look at it anymore I'll probably start crying. I have like no stamina for writing lmao. I also have very little experience so if you've got any advice/CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, let me know! 
> 
> Tumblr: attackonhogwarts


End file.
